Fixed Fee Document Drafting | The Legal Stop

The Legal Stop - Fixed Fee Legal Services

The Legal Stop is a straightforward online business, using information technology for the public good. We aim to make the law and the provision of legal services affordable, transparent and accessible to everyone!

We provide fixed fee legal services and legal and business document templates to businesses, start-ups, and individuals. Our services are carried out by highly qualified and experienced UK solicitors and barristers. The legal and business document templates are regularly updated, legally binding and governed by English law.

All our legal services are offered on a pay-as-you-go fixed fee basis without having to sign up for anything, just there for when you need them!

There is no obligation to accept an inheritance either under the terms of a Will, an intestacy or by right of survivorship. When an inheritance is not wanted a Deed of Variation can be used to redirect the inheritance to another beneficiary. Thus, a beneficiary who is entitled to part of a deceased person’s estate under a Will, intestacy or by right of survivorship can use a Deed of Variation to redirect the inheritance to another beneficiary of their choice.

Under the doctrine of survivorship where property is owned by two persons as joint tenants if one owner dies then their interest in the property passes to the survivor. Sometimes the surviving joint tenant may not want the property; in these circumstances the surviving joint can use a Deed of Variation to redirect the inheritance.

There are many reasons why beneficiaries may wish to vary or redirect assets held in a deceased person’s estate, one of the main reasons is to save Inheritance Tax.

When an original beneficiary uses a Deed of Variation in order to make some sort of gift and to redirect all or part of an inheritance, the gift, for Tax purposes, will be treated as having been made by the deceased person and not by the original beneficiary.

In certain situations a Deed of Variation may be used to avoid paying Inheritance Tax, provided that it is executed within two years of death.

If the Deed of Variation is executed within two years of death and contains a statement that it is intended that section 62(6) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Tax Act 1992 should apply, in most cases the transfer will not constitute a disposal for capital gains tax purposes. It takes effect from the date of death and works as if the distribution of the deceased’s estate had incorporated the variation.

A Deed of Variation is not retrospective for Income Tax purposes. Any income which is payable to the original beneficiary after the death of the deceased, but before execution of the deed of variation, is taxable as the income of that beneficiary.

A Deed of Variation – Share of Joint Property Passing by Survivorship shall be used where the person receiving the inheritance owned property jointly with the deceased, acquired the deceased’s interest in the property by the right of survivorship and wishes to give that interest to some other person.

The Legal Stop is a straightforward online business using information technology for the public good. We aim to make the provision of legal services accessible and transparent for people and businesses alike.

The Legal Stop provides affordable and transparent diverse online legal services on a fixed fee basis. Our services include: Fixed Fee Legal Advice from UK Solicitors and Barristers, Fixed Fee Document Drafting and Legal and Business Document Templates.

Please visit us at www.thelegalstop.co.uk

A Distribution Agreement is a legal contract between a Supplier (generally a manufacturer) that supplies goods and/or services to another party, the Distributor, for resale in a specified territory. Basically, the Supplier wishes to have its products distributed and the Distributor’s role is to develop the largest possible market for a product through distribution, sales and marketing activities.

A well written Distribution Agreement regulates the relationship between the parties; it should be comprehensive and balanced in that it sets out the rights and obligations of the parties and protects the interests of both parties.

Distribution Agreements may be exclusive or non-exclusive. In an exclusive distribution agreement the distributor will be the only person permitted to distribute the products/services in the territory. Conversely, in a non-exclusive distribution agreement the distributor might be one of several distributors in the same territory.

Distribution Agreements must be carefully drafted to take into account what the parties are trying to achieve and the implications of competition law and other regulations that can have severe penalties.

Key elements to be considered include:

The territory covered
Non-exclusivity or exclusivity
Non-compete obligations
Responsibilities of the parties in terms of promoting, selling and distributing the products/services
Intellectual property
Terms and conditions of sale
Confidential information
Circumstances in which the agreement may be terminated
Consequences of termination

Please note that you can give a distributor exclusive rights to a particular territory, however, under competition law you may not be able to give the distributor exclusive rights and at the same time prevent the distributor from selling competing products.

You can stop a distributor selling competing products provided you do not have ‘selective distribution’ or have a market share of over 30%. However, the restriction on selling competing products must not be indefinite or last more than five years.

You have ‘selective distribution’ if you deliberately limit the number of distributors, or require distributors to meet particular qualifying criteria. ‘Selective distribution’ has implications under competition law. In particular, it is illegal to prevent selective distributors from selling competing products.

You can stop a distributor selling outside the territory if your share of the market on which it supplies the relevant goods or services does not exceed 30%. If you have a market share of over 30% then you cannot.

Furthermore, a distribution agreement cannot restrict passive sales i.e. if a customer approaches the distributor then the distributor should be free to sell to that customer even if it is outside the territory.

Finally, please note that you cannot control the prices a distributor charges their customers for the products/services as it would be a breach of competition law.

The Legal Stop provides several services including fixed fee legal document drafting where you will be able to obtain a distribution agreement specifically tailored to meet your needs. In addition we also offer downloadable distribution agreement templates, our templates are:

Our distribution agreement templates are suitable for use in the UK or abroad where the parties to the agreement are individuals or businesses, and can be used for sale and promotion of goods and/or services. They are flexible and can be adapted to suit specific needs of the parties.

The templates are intended to satisfy the requirements of the EU and UK competition law rules affecting “vertical restraints”. They are drafted on the assumption that the supplier’s share of the market on which it supplies the relevant goods or services does not exceed 30%; the purchaser’s share of the market on which it buys those goods or services does not exceed 30%, and the distributor does not compete with the supplier in the production or manufacture of the products covered by the distribution agreement.

We provide affordable and transparent diverse online legal services on a fixed fee basis. Our services include: